eTurboNews learned that WTTC’s vice president, Virginia Messina, has spoken with some tourism sector leaders and openly supports Gloria Guevara’s ambition to become the new Secretary General for UN Tourism. Virginia is also from Mexico.
She pointed out that Gloria is an excellent candidate and an excellent option to replace Zurab Pololikashvili, the current secretary general.
Besides Zurab, who is seeking what many say is a third illegal term, Gloria is competing with former Greek Tourism minister Harry Theoharis for this post.
It is a good sign that members of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) support her candidacy; the largest and most influential private companies in the travel and tourism industry are WTTC members.
This would be the first time a woman would lead the World Tourism Organization (UN-Tourism)
Things are going well for Gloria Guevara. The government of Mexico is strongly supporting her candidacy.
The success at UNWTO came when former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai teamed up with David Scowsill, who was CEO of WTTC in 2011, to have heads of State around the world sign the joined UNWTO/ WTTC letter to gain better awareness for what travel and tourism is doing to national economies.
In May 2011, Mexico became the first head of state to join the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) joint campaign highlighting the importance of travel and tourism to global growth and development.
Gloria was the minister of tourism for Mexico then (2011). Little was known in 2011 that 14 years later, she would run for the highest UNWTO post. This is after leading WTTC as its CEO and learning how the new power player in tourism operates (Saudi Arabia). She brings years of experience on all possible fronts, qualifying her as the only logical choice for this UN-affiliated agency post.
Gloria has been seen as a go-getter who knows what she wants and goes for it. She has been seen as a shining example of women’s equality in tourism, and now it shows again.
She got the attention of Saudi Arabia’s minister of tourism when she safely pulled off, against all odds, the first and only global WTTC summit during COVID-19 in Cancun, Mexico, in 2021.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili saw WTTC as a rival in 2021 and tried to destroy Guevara’s work, but Gloria succeeded. The conference took place, and Gloria committed to becoming the top advisor of HE Ahmed Al Khateeb, the popular minister of tourism for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a few months later.
